Page 107 of Clichés & Curses

I furrowed my eyebrows at him. ‘What do you mean?’

‘We’ll let ourselves kiss each other tonight and just go back to normal tomorrow.’

I took a moment to think over his suggestion. But to be honest, I didn’t need to, as my mind was definitely on board. ‘Will you be okay with that?’ I asked instead.

‘Not gonna lie, I do like the idea of kissing you. Hell, I’ve been wanting to kiss you since that night at the bar,’ he confessed. ‘And it’ll be torture not doing it again for a while after tonight. But yes, I will be okay with that. So, what do you say?’

‘A free pass sounds great. But I do have to warn you though: I have never actually kissed anyone before, so I don’t really know what I’m doing,’ I admitted, my voice shaky at my confession.

I wasn’t ashamed of having never been kissed before, but saying it out loud to someone else made me feel exposed—especially saying it to the boy who you wanted to be your first kiss.

But Colton just gave me his small, familiar smile. ‘Then, we’ll take it slow.’

‘But I have read a lot of romance books, so you have a lot to live up to, mister,’ I teased him, pointing an accusatory finger into his chest.

‘You wouldn’t have deserved anything less,’ he said.

I had wanted to kiss Colton for a while, specifically since that night at the karaoke bar when we almost did kiss—the same night he just admitted to wanting to kiss me too. But things were different that night, I was high on an adrenaline rush—along with a glass of margarita—and we were slow-dancing to a love song so, of course, all my mind could focus on was just wanting to kiss this boy I had long been crushing on.

Whereas right then, we weren’t surrounded by a romantic atmosphere. It was just him and me, with both of our hearts on our sleeves, and I couldn’t help but feel slightly nervous.

I tried to shake it off, thinking there was nothing I should be worried about, but that was easier said than done.

As if sensing my nervousness, Colton cupped my cheeks with both of his hands, pressing his forehead to mine. ‘Breathe with me, okay? Inhale.’ He took a deep inhale, then slowly exhaled it, making sure I was following his patterned breaths.

‘Good. One more time.’

Inhale. Exhale.

‘Last one.’

Inhale. Exhale.

The pulse in my heart was still quick, but now it was fluttering with excitement instead.

‘There’s nothing to be nervous about,’ Colton said, his voice a whisper. ‘It’s just me.’

He started leaving kisses all over my face. My forehead. My cheeks. My chin. Two kisses on each corner of my lips.

And finally, he kissed me.

Ever since I convinced myself of the curse that had fallen upon my family, I knew that I wouldn’t get—or allow myself—to livemy own romance story with a cliché love interest, just like my mom and sister had. So instead, I had decided that I would, at least, have a cliché first kiss story. It would be as dramatic as the ones I had read in books and watched in movies.

I didn’t think I would have settled with having my first kiss on a couch in the living room of my college apartment.

But as Colton’s arm slipped around my waist, and as he pulled me closer to him, my hands tangled in his hair, I realized I didn’t give a fuck about having a dramatic first kiss any more.

Because right then, all that mattered was I was kissing Colton. It was worth more than my thousand dramatic ideas of having a cliché first kiss story. Nothing beats kissing the right person.

I pulled back once I realized how breathless I got, gently pressing my forehead against Colton’s.

‘How was that?’ he asked, his breath in a steadier rhythm than mine.

‘Eh, it was okay,’ I teased. ‘I think you have to kiss me again for me to be sure.’

A grin made its way to his face. ‘Don’t worry, sweetheart. We have all night after all.’

We spent the next few hours talking about anything and everything, with the occasional kisses in between. We didn’t realize how late it had gotten, until Colton received a text from Miles, telling him that my friends needed a ride home.

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